Director, AI Program Management, OS, System & Data

Ford Motor Company; Dearborn (MI); On-site; USD 190,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental and vision

Parental leave

Tuition assistance

Employee discounts

Paid holidays

Job summary

Ford Motor Company seeks a Director of AI Program Management, OS, System & Data, to lead governance, delivery standards, and value realization for a large AI portfolio. You will coordinate with Finance, HR, Legal, Product, Engineering, and GDIA to drive decisions across a complex, multi-workstream environment.

The role requires building recurring reviews, executive reporting, and a proactive operating cadence to surface and solve problems while maintaining accountability for outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• 8+ years of experience in program governance, PMO leadership, or portfolio execution at enterprise scale, including managing managers.
• Direct experience setting stage-gate criteria, delivery standards, or governance frameworks across multiple programs.
• Experience running cross-functional councils or steering committees with legal, HR, Finance, and technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own AI governance standards, stage-gate criteria, delivery expectations, and value realization.
• Lead cross-functional councils to align on decisions across departments.
• Own operating rhythm for the AI Portfolio, including reviews and executive filings.
• Oversee execution of Enterprise and Functional AI Bets to achieve outcomes.
• Manage dependencies and escalate blockers to keep programs on track.
• Develop recovery plans for at-risk bets and ensure accountability.

Skills

Program governance

PMO leadership

Portfolio execution

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive presence

Stakeholder alignment

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

We are the movers of the world and makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves, and build a better world – together. At Ford, we're all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves?

In this position...

Ford is building a new capability at the center of our enterprise AI strategy. We are looking for a Director, AI Program Management, OS, System & Data. If you thrive at the intersection of program management, transformation, and emerging technology, we want to hear from you.

This role sets the standards every bet is held to including stage-gate criteria, delivery expectations, and value realization requirements, and leads the team who runs the review cadence that keeps the portfolio and the functions around it aligned.

The ideal candidate has run a governance function or PMO at enterprise scale before, is comfortable holding projects to standards under pressure, and knows how to build a review cadence that surfaces and solves real problems.

What You'll Do...

• Own AI Big Bet governance standards, stage-gate criteria, delivery expectations, value realization requirements, and coaching that drive progress, rigor, and consistency in the portfolio
• Run the Agentic AI Business and Technology Councils, keeping OGC, HR, Finance, Product, Engineering, and GDIA aligned on decisions that cut across their functions
• Own the operating rhythm for the AI Portfolio — forums, owners, review calendar, and CEO/Board/ELT filings
• Own execution oversight of Enterprise and Functional AI Bets, ensuring programs achieve committed outcomes
• Manage cross-bet dependencies and remove barriers to delivery, stepping in when a blocker is bigger than what a single bet owner can resolve on their own
• Maintain path-to-green recovery plans when performance, schedule, adoption, or value targets are at risk, and hold bets accountable to the recovery plan
• Co-own Finance validation standards with the Finance DRI, driving benefits realization and ensuring reported value is independently validated
• Drive corrective action when value or delivery commitments aren't achieved, escalating to the relevant council or leadership forum when a bet can't self-correct

You’ll have...

• Bachelor’s degree
• 8+ years of experience in program governance, PMO leadership, or portfolio execution roles at enterprise scale, including experience managing managers
• Direct experience setting stage-gate criteria, delivery standards, or governance frameworks adopted across multiple programs
• Experience running cross-functional councils or steering committees, including keeping legal, HR, Finance, and technical stakeholders aligned on shared decisions
• Track record of building or running an operating cadence — recurring reviews, reporting cycles, and executive filings — for a large, multi-workstream portfolio
• Experience diagnosing at-risk programs and driving path-to-green recovery, including the judgment to know when a bet needs to be escalated rather than coached
• Experience partnering with Finance on benefits realization or value validation, including pushing back on reported value that doesn't hold up
• Strong executive presence and comfort keeping program sponsors and leadership accountable

Even better, if you have...

• Experience in automotive, technology, or another large-scale enterprise environment with a complex, matrixed operating structure
• Background running a PMO, governance office, or transformation office for a technology or innovation portfolio
• Experience with AI or digital transformation programs specifically, including how agentic or AI-driven initiatives typically stall or fail
• Familiarity with how legal, data governance, and risk functions (like GDIA) need to be looped into technology program decisions
• Experience presenting portfolio performance and recovery plans directly to a CEO, Board, or ELT-level audience

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up childcare and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a leadership level 4.

Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.